The Great Galveston Disaster: Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane and Terrible Rush of Waters; Immense Destruction of Dwellings, Business Houses, Churches, and Loss of Thousands of Human Lives; Thrilling Tales of Heroic Deeds; Panic-Stricken Multitudes and Heart-Rending Scenes of Agony; Frantic Efforts to Escape a Horrible Fate; Separation of Loved Ones, etc., etc.; Narrow Escapes from the Jaws of De
John Stuart Mill · en
In the great storm of 1875 little of private or public capital ran the
risk of destruction. The great wharves, elevators, compresses and
railway and steamship systems had taken but slight foothold in the
island city. The federal government had built jetties and general harbor
improvements and coast defences, at a cost of more than $10,000,000 of
public money. All these millions of public and private wealth have been
put into Galveston enterprises since 1875.
CAPITAL WILL BE SHY HEREAFTER.
Capitalists will scarcely venture again in the near future to invest
their money in a place where it is likely to be wiped out at a ratio of
from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 to one equinoctial storm. And when the
Federal Government contemplates costly brand new coast defence
fortifications, such as Fort Sam Houston, shattered by wind and waves,
and ninety per cent. of the garrison killed, it will not consider the
place where these ventures were made a safe one for their duplication. A
harbor to be safe must be land locked.
These are the views of thinking men who have studied the situation. The
question then arises, What will supersede Galveston? Some predict that
Houston, fifty miles in the interior, on Buffalo Bayou, through the
agency of a ship canal built at the expense of the federal government,
is the coming metropolis of the Gulf.
Others say Texas City, ten miles from Galveston, will now be developed
as a grand maritime successor to the unfortunate island city. Others say
Clinton, on Buffalo Bayou, six miles below Houston, because of its
facilities to furnish water and rail terminals, will be the Texas
seaport of the near future.
Very few expect unfortunate Galveston to rise again and reassert herself
the mistress of the Gulf. A Galveston man illustrated the problem very
aptly to-night, when he said:
“Fully one-half of the population of Galveston will never go back there
to live if they be got off the island alive this time. My opinion is
that Galveston has had her rise and fall.”
AUSTIN PREDICTS NO DESERTION OF THE CITY.
Austin, Texas, Wednesday.—In the first shadow of the awful calamity
which has befallen Galveston the thought of many is that Galveston City
will have to be removed to the mainland or deserted. Nevertheless,
calmer opinion is that the city will not be moved. There are too many
interests concerned, too much money invested and too many possibilities
to think of moving the city.
Property losses, while great, are not beyond repair. The city may not
for many years regain the popularity it enjoyed up to last week, but it
is believed that with the passage of time and the allaying of public
fear the place will begin to revive.
Millions are invested there in harbor improvements that would be useless
were the island deserted. Millions more invested in business weathered
the storm, save as to windows and roofs, and these can be easily
repaired.